More of a Believer than You Think?

The atheist who truly understands The Lord of the Rings is more of a believer than he thinks.

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Photo by Chris Fraley

Tonight I read I WAS AN ATHEIST UNTIL I READ “THE LORD OF THE RINGS” by Fredric Heidemann published at the Word on Fire blog (December 16, 2016). The catalyst for his journey from atheism to theism was the Lord of the Rings books by JRR Tolkien, one of my lifelong favorite literary works. I read them as a very young teenager, and they captivated my imagination much like they did Heidemann.

He captures the essence of the Lord of the Rings this way:

The fantasy world of Middle-Earth oozes life and profundity. The cultures of the various peoples are organic, rooted in tradition while maintaining a fresh, living energy. Mountains and forests have personalities, and the relationship between people and earth is marked by stewardship and intimacy. Creation knowing creation. Tolkien describes these things with beautiful prose that reads like its half poetry and half medieval history. Everything seems “deep” in The Lord of the Rings. The combination of character archetypes and assertive “lifeness” in the novel touches on an element of fundamental humanity. Every Lord of the Rings fan knows exactly what I’m talking about.

In some ways, the struggle might be philosophically cast as meaning against meaninglessness, purpose and love against reductionism and the insatiable, burning destructive force of evil. But I digress.

Heidemann echoes the autobiographical work of C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy, in the way he perceived Tolkien’s great adventure. Lewis found a reality in the great works of fiction that resonated with his own experiences of “joy” found in quiet, solitary walks and other transcendent moments that he chased much of his young adult life for the “life” he found in them.

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Christmas Thoughts: Psalm 22

We celebrate the humble birth of Christ, knowing that the redemptive work God started then is finished, even as it is playing out in our own lives and the times we live in.

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I don’t typically think of the Psalms when I think of Christmas. My Christmas thoughts this season have revolved around prophecies in the Old Testament, and that is where the Psalms enter the picture. The Old Testament is full of prophecies that came true in the person of Jesus from Nazareth, who was born in Bethlehem a little over two millennia ago.

Psalm 22 may have been written by David before he became King when he was on the run from King Saul, who was jealous. On the other hand, it may have been written after David became king when his son, Absalom, formed a coupe to wrest the kingdom from him. Psalm 22 is David’s cry to God in the midst of his own impossible circumstance.

But Psalm 22 is more than that. Psalm 22 is a foreshadowing of God’s own cry when His creation turns against Him. It becomes the cry of God, who shed his divine glory to enter His own creation in the form of a man, which we celebrate at Christmastime. We don’t think of Christmas in these terms, but it foreshadows the death of God incarnate at the hands of His own creation.

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Into Her Dreams

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(c) Can Stock Photo / Filedimage
(c) Can Stock Photo / Filedimage

Like skaters on icy pavement
gliding together into the city skyline,
grey against clouds of snow.
Winter storm warning, veiled
by music and coffee, conversation and silence.
Precious cargo
delivered into the Windy City,
big shoulders
Blonde and steel,
she slips into the hurried streets,
the streaming crowd,
Out into the world.
This father beams in consolation…
and sighs.
She doesn’t look back,
blue eyes piercing into her future.
No hesitation.
Heading home,
grey fading into western twilight.
slipping past long headlights.
Silence in music playing.
Snow dust, shifting like dry mist,
passing like sands of time.
Falling, the flurries whirling….
How easily she slipped out of my car

and into her dreams.